Jon Elster (; born 22 February 1940,
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
) is a
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and
political theorist
A political theorist is someone who engages in constructing or evaluating political theory, including political philosophy. Theorists may be academics or independent scholars. Here the most notable political theorists are categorized by their ...
who holds the
Robert K. Merton
Robert King Merton (born Meyer Robert Schkolnick; July 4, 1910 – February 23, 2003) was an American sociologist who is considered a founding father of modern sociology, and a major contributor to the subfield of criminology. He served as th ...
professorship
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
of Social Science at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.
He received his
PhD in
social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
from the
École Normale Superieure
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
in 1972. He has previously taught at the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
, the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
, and the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, where he became professor of political science in 1984. Since 1995, he has held the
Robert K. Merton
Robert King Merton (born Meyer Robert Schkolnick; July 4, 1910 – February 23, 2003) was an American sociologist who is considered a founding father of modern sociology, and a major contributor to the subfield of criminology. He served as th ...
professorship
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
of Social Science at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, as well as being professor of social science at the
Collège de France
The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...
since 2005.
Elster has authored works in the
philosophy of social science
The philosophy of social science is the study of the logic, methods, and foundations of social sciences (psychology, cultural anthropology, sociology, etc...). Philosophers of social science are concerned with the differences and similarities be ...
and
rational choice theory
Rational choice theory refers to a set of guidelines that help understand economic and social behaviour. The theory originated in the eighteenth century and can be traced back to political economist and philosopher, Adam Smith. The theory postula ...
. He is also a notable proponent of
analytical Marxism
Analytical Marxism is an approach to Marxist theory that was prominent amongst English-speaking philosophers and social scientists during the 1980s.
Described by G. A. Cohen as "non-bullshit Marxism", members of this school seek to apply the ...
, and a critic of
neoclassical economics
Neoclassical economics is an approach to economics in which the production, consumption and valuation (pricing) of goods and services are observed as driven by the supply and demand model. According to this line of thought, the value of a good ...
and
public choice theory, largely on behavioral and psychological grounds. In 2016, he was awarded the 22nd
Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science
), location=Uppsala, Sweden, date=
The Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science ( sv, Skytteanska priset) was established in 1995 by the Johan Skytte Foundation at Uppsala University. The foundation itself goes back to the donation in 1622 from J ...
for his contributions to
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
.
Biography
Elster is the son of journalist/author and CEO of the
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation
NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...
Torolf Elster
Torolf Elster (27 May 1911 – 4 November 2006) was a Norwegian newspaper and radio journalist, magazine editor, novelist, crime fiction writer and writer of short stories. He was Director-General of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NR ...
, and poet
Magli Elster
Magli Elster (née Raknes; 21 November 1912 – 11 May 1993) was a Norwegian psychoanalyst, literary critic, poet and translator.
Personal life
Elster was born in the neighborhood of Vålerenga in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. She was the d ...
. He earned his PhD in 1972 from the
École Normale Superieure
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
in Paris with a dissertation on
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
under the direction of
Raymond Aron
Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century.
Aron is best known for his 19 ...
. Elster was a member of the
September Group
Analytical Marxism is an approach to Marxist theory that was prominent amongst English-speaking philosophers and social scientists during the 1980s.
Described by G. A. Cohen as "non-bullshit Marxism", members of this school seek to apply the t ...
for many years but left in the early 1990s. Elster previously taught at the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
in the department of history and held an endowed chair at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, teaching in the departments of philosophy and political science. He is now Robert K. Merton Professor of Social Sciences with appointments in Political Science and Philosophy at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
and ''professeur honoraire'' at the
Collège de France
The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...
. He was awarded the
Jean Nicod Prize
The Jean Nicod Prize is awarded annually in Paris to a leading philosopher of mind or philosophically oriented cognitive scientist. The lectures are organized by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique as part of its effort to promote in ...
in 1997 and the Skytte Prize in Political Science in 2016.
He is a member of the
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway.
History
The Royal Frederick Univer ...
. He is also a member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
, of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
, of the
Academia Europaea
The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences.
The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...
, and a Corresponding
Fellow of the British Academy
Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are:
# Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom
# C ...
.
Elster is doctor honoris causa at the universities of
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
,
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
,
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
,
Trondheim (NTNU),
Louvain-la-Neuve
Louvain-la-Neuve (, French for ''New Leuven''; wa, Li Noû Lovén) is a planned town in the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Wallonia, Belgium, situated 30 km southeast of Brussels, in the province of Walloon Brabant. The town was ...
,
Torcuato di Tella, and the
National University of Colombia. He is honorary professor at the
University of Chongqing.
Philosophical work
Much of Elster's writing is characterized by attempts to use analytical theories, especially
rational choice theory
Rational choice theory refers to a set of guidelines that help understand economic and social behaviour. The theory originated in the eighteenth century and can be traced back to political economist and philosopher, Adam Smith. The theory postula ...
, as a springboard for philosophical and ethical analysis, with numerous examples from literature and history. "Elster has made important contributions to several fields," Daniel Little wrote in a review essay. "The breadth and depth of his writings are striking in a time of high specialisation; he is read and discussed by political scientists, legal scholars, economists and philosophers. His work is difficult to summarise in a slogan, but ... it is generally informed by a broad and deep acquaintance with relevant literature in economics, political science, history, philosophy, and psychology."
A student of the philosophy of social science (a topic he investigated through case studies in ''Explaining Technical Change''), Elster strongly argued that social scientific explanations had to be built on top of
methodological individualism
In the social sciences, methodological individualism is the principle that subjective individual motivation explains social phenomena, rather than class or group dynamics which are illusory or artificial and therefore cannot truly explain marke ...
(the belief that only individuals, not larger entities like "organizations" or "societies", can actually do things) and microfoundations (explaining big societal changes in terms of individual actions). He criticized Marxists and other social scientists for believing in
functionalism (the belief that institutions exist because of their effect on society) and instead tried to give Marxism a foundation in
game theory
Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has appli ...
(the economic notion that people make choices based on the expected benefits and the choices others are likely to make).
Elster wrote numerous books attempting to use rational choice theory for a wide variety of social explanations. "Rational choice theory is far more than a technical tool for explaining behaviour," he once wrote. "It is also, and very importantly, a way of coming to grips with ourselves - not only what we should do, but even what we should be." He attempted to apply it to topics as varied as politics (''Political Psychology''), bias and constrained preferences (
''Sour Grapes''), emotions (''Alchemies of the Mind''), self-restraint (
''Ulysses and the Sirens'', which was selected for the
Norwegian Sociology Canon The Norwegian Sociology Canon ( no, Norsk sosiologisk kanon) is an award presented from 2009 to 2011 to 25 nonfiction texts that are considered to have had the greatest influence on sociology in Norway. The list of works was published in the journal ...
), Marxism (''
Making Sense of Marx
''Making Sense of Marx'' is a 1985 book about Karl Marx by the social and political theorist Jon Elster, in which the author reevaluates Marx's ideas. The book has received a mixture of praise and criticism from commentators.
Reception
''Making S ...
''), and more.
In doing so, he elucidated many issues with simplistic notions of rational choice: endogenous preference formation (certain actions today can change preferences tomorrow, so how does one decide which preferences one prefers?), framing (people express different preferences when the same question is asked different ways), imperfect rationality (weakness of the will, emotion, impulsiveness, habit, self-deception) and our adjustments for it, and
time preference
In economics, time preference (or time discounting, delay discounting, temporal discounting, long-term orientation) is the current relative valuation placed on receiving a good or some cash at an earlier date compared with receiving it at a later ...
s, among others.
As time went on Elster began to sour on rational choice. A 1991 review in the ''
London Review of Books
The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews.
History
The ''London Review of ...
'' noted "Elster has lost his bearings, or at least his faith.
is latest books he says, 'reflects an increasing disillusion with the power of reason'." His magisterial 500-page book ''Explaining Social Behavior'' includes something of a recantation:
The book discusses both rational behavior, but also irrational behavior, which Elster says is "widespread and frequent
utnot inevitable ... we ''want'' to be rational". A more recent book, ''Le désintéressement'' (part of a two-volume ''Traité critique de l’homme économique''), explores the ramifications of these insights for the possibility of disinterested action.
[Review of ''Le désintéressement'', by ]Gloria Origgi
Gloria Origgi (born 1967) is an Italian philosopher at the CNRS in Paris ( Institut Jean Nicod) who works on the theory of mind, epistemology and social sciences applied to new technology. She is the founder (in 2002) and director of the innovati ...
The Possibility of Disinterested Action
The Berlin Review of Books, 8 January 2010.
Selected writings
* ''Leibniz et la formation de l'esprit capitaliste'' (Paris, 1975)
* ''Leibniz and the development of economic rationality'' (Oslo, 1975)
* ''Logic and Society'' (New York, 1978)
* ''Ulysses and the Sirens'' (Cambridge, 1979)
* ''Sour grapes. Studies in the subversion of rationality'' (Cambridge University Press, 1983)
* ''Explaining Technical Change : a Case Study in the Philosophy of Science'' (Oslo, 1983)
*
* ''
An Introduction to Karl Marx
''An Introduction to Karl Marx'' is a 1986 book about the philosopher Karl Marx by the social and political theorist Jon Elster. It is a much shorter version (about one-fourth in length) of Elster's ''Making Sense of Marx'', published a year ear ...
'' (Cambridge, 1986)
* ''The Cement of Society: A study of social order'' (Cambridge, 1989)
* ''Solomonic Judgments: Studies in the limitation of rationality'' (Cambridge, 1989)
* ''Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences'' (Cambridge, 1989)
* ''Local Justice: How institutions allocate scarce goods and necessary burdens'' (New York, 1992)
* ''Political Psychology'' (Cambridge, 1993)
* ''The Ethics of Medical Choice'' (with Nicolas Herpin; London, 1994)
* ''Strong Feelings: Emotion, Addiction, and Human Behavior'' (Cambridge, 1999)
* ''Alchemies of the Mind: Rationality and the Emotions'' (Cambridge, 1999)
* ''Ulysses Unbound: Studies in Rationality, Precommitment, and Constraints'' (Cambridge, 2000)
* ''Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective'' (Cambridge, 2004)
* ''Explaining Social Behavior: More Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences'' (Cambridge, 2007; revised ed. 2015)
* ''Reason and Rationality'' (Princeton, 2009)
* ''Alexis de Tocqueville: The First Social Scientist'' (Cambridge, 2009)
*''Le désintéressemen''t (Paris, 2009)
*''L'irrationalité'' (Paris, 2010)
*''Securities against Misrule. Juries, Assemblies, Elections'' (Cambridge, 2013)
*''Constituent Assemblies'' (edited with Roberto Gargarella, Vatsal Naresh and
Bjørn Erik Rasch; Cambridge, 2019)
*''France before 1789: The Unraveling of an Absolutist Regime'' (Princeton, 2020)
See also
*
G. A. Cohen
*
John Roemer
John E. Roemer (; born February 1, 1945 in Washington, D.C., to Ruth Roemer and Milton Roemer, namesake of Roemer's law) is an American economist and political scientist. He is the Elizabeth S. and A. Varick Stout Professor of Political Scienc ...
*
List of Jean Nicod Prize laureates
References
External links
Elster pageat Columbia University Department of Philosophy
at the
Collège de France
The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...
*
Selected quotes by Jon Elster*
(text&video), laviedesidees.fr, 26/11/2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elster, Jon
1940 births
Living people
Collège de France faculty
21st-century Norwegian philosophers
Norwegian political philosophers
Norwegian political scientists
Columbia University faculty
Jean Nicod Prize laureates
Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
Rationality theorists
Philosophers of social science
Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy
Norwegian expatriates in France
Norwegian expatriates in the United States
University of Chicago faculty
Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis faculty